


Obsession

by Velvetbubble



Category: EXO (Band), Kpop - Fandom
Genre: Don’t worry, Eventual Smut, F/M, Guest appearances, Jealousy, Mentioned GOT7 Ensemble, Mentioned NCT Ensemble, Multi, OT12 (EXO), OT9 (EXO), Obsession, Polyamory, Possessiveness, Reverse Harem, Slow Burn, Smut, This Is 100 Percent Fiction
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-30
Updated: 2020-06-24
Packaged: 2021-02-28 01:00:07
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 12,230
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22835149
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Velvetbubble/pseuds/Velvetbubble
Summary: Antique AU! LateModern AU! Money AU!The standards of upper class women had a rigid box to pushed into. The thought of even acknowledging someone underneath you was a shameful sight, especially in the eyes of other superiors.So when you become popular amongst the retainers of your fathers business things could take a turn for the worst or for you, the best.Whether you had brunette or blonde hair, green or brown eyes if you were tall or short or thick or thin. Female or Male, Tan or pale it didn’t matter. If you didn’t have enough money you’d struggle either way.Please take caution when reading this book! Some of the touched upon subjects are sensitive issues and may not be suited to all readers, please be mindful when considering this and others.
Relationships: Byun Baekhyun/Reader, Do Kyungsoo | D.O/Reader, EXO Ensemble/Original Female Character(s), EXO Ensemble/Reader, Huang Zi Tao | Z.Tao/Reader, Kim Jongdae | Chen/Reader, Kim Jongin | Kai/Reader, Kim Junmyeon | Suho/Reader, Kim Minseok | Xiumin/Reader, Lu Han/Reader, Oh Sehun/Reader, Park Chanyeol/Reader, Wu Yi Fan | Kris/Reader, Zhang Yi Xing | Lay/Reader
Comments: 9
Kudos: 38





	1. Saviour

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I feel like this took a lot longer than I would of liked, this already has a little over 300 hits and it’s not even been a chapter so here you guys go

"Are you crazy! How dare you slow down!" A man with a rather snobby looking posture bellowed. 

The well tailored black frock coat that fit the man rather too well danced between the summer wind as he jerked forward. His fitted black trousers and white cravat moving slightly at the sudden movement. Gripping his side-saddle whip between his fingers, shaking with annoyance he stood above the grovelling child.

They had been out in the field since sunrise and it was now well into the afternoon, maybe a couple of hours. The gentleman leading the group of peasants was what was known as a controller and appropriately addressed as Sir. He had been rudely awakened this morning to be appointed in taking the workers out to one of the fields and supervise them at what ever had to be done. 

In this case today was fruits the mass amount of produce that needed to be harvested was critical to the businesses survival but more importantly to him, his pay check. 

For the people actually harvesting the food it was a matter of survival, work and to be able to make it to the next day. Everyone and anyone could be in their place, it was a matter of how much money you had. If it fell below a certain number authorities would whisk you away to a place to work until you died or paid to leave.

Refuse and get beaten by one of the many controllers. Sometimes if they were in a bad mood death came sooner than expected. The corrupted government turned a blind eye at any deaths of the sorts, Especially when upperclassmen had the wealth to keep them shut.

"What did I just say kid, Get up!" The young boy limped to his station with tears rolling down his scrunched up face. A big gash on the side of his leg apparent below his ripped shorts. He couldn't keep up with the other adults like he used to be able to, it was infected he'd surely die soon anyway.

The controller moved his whip above his head. The kid may as well be dead, taking a beating from a controlled was worse than death. You've have to sit there and take it until it ended sometimes even made to continue working straight afterwards. 

Medical care didn't exist for the people trapped here. 

As he flicked his wrist his arms swinging down with the movement and a harsh crack of his whip rang out. The boy had flinched but the groan that came from in front of him made him open his eyes again. His eyes widened as the controller seethed. 

Someone had gotten in between the two to protect the younger child. An act of rebellion in broad daylight in defence of another why not. Other slaves were meant to continue on with their work no matter the circumstances, that meant especially if another was being punished for their lack of. It was just asking to be hung.

The latter opened his eyes slowly, His cheek leaking blood rather heavily. The field had grown silent, workers looking over in fright. His heavy breathing and the crows croaking being the only sound to fill the empty space.  
He was sure everyone could hear his raising heartbeat as he palmed the ground, The boy shaking behind him. 

He pulled a somewhat clean hand up to his tanned cheek hissing at the contact, the adrenaline wearing off. 

Suddenly a rather healthy looking young man in respectable clothing ran up to the controller, a letter in hand and a worried expression. 

"Sir, a urgent letter from the Grand Manor" The controllers eyes widened as he put his attention into the letter. 

Whipping it out of the young man's turned out hands he ripped it open with one swift movement, opening the contents and reading it carefully. A moment passed by but it felt like hours to the rebellious one. 

"Comply with the Grand Marshall's wishes immediately and welcome her down, you are dismissed" the young man scurried back as the controller tucked the discarded letter into his waistcoat pocket. 

He looked down at the two on the ground in pity. 

"You're lucky this time skivvy, any other time and you'd be thrown into the pit" Oh the pit, the place no one wished to be placed into. It was as simple as it could be. 

A deep rectangular pit at the back of the retainer's house with barbed wire around the perimeter. Nothing else in it, just cold hard dirt, if the controllers deemed you to be too bad to be put to death you'd be launched in the 11 foot drop hole. 

The only reason is was a famous place of terror was because that would be your final resting place, you'd be starved to death surrounded by others who'd previously died there with you. Countless families had been torn apart by this cruel method, the controllers loved to use it as their personal stress reliever by throwing anyone in there that disrespected them that day or didn't work hard enough. Child or Elderly, all were the same to them.

"Get back to work before you get another whipping boy!" The tanned teenager stumbled back over to his crop workings leaving the child to sweat excessively over his work. 

"That means all of you, stop staring before I withhold all of your rations for the next week!" Did the man ever stop shouting. The machines sprung to action and occasional whispers carried throughout the warm air. 

A few more hours has passed as the sun began to lower and the controller had finally decided to give the workers a lengthy break and allowed them to eat their rations for late lunch. After the half an hour was up he began rounding up everyone to collect their lunch bags and deposit them back into the wagon. Off to work until 8pm dinner time. 

By this time the blood crusted onto the tanned boys face, his body trying its best to save the limit amount of moisture it got. It would be a nasty scar under his right eye if infection didn't snatch him first. Even if he could of saved his face his patchy shirt was permanently stained with a deep crimson that bled into the top of the right side. He scrubbed the cotton back and forth into the processing machine deep in thought as footsteps from the distance became louder behind him.

The young messenger from earlier held up a smooth black with white trims sun umbrella over a soft looking young woman, protecting her from the harsh evening rays. 

Her top tight fitting white bodice and pale pink dress accents tailored specifically for her and her alone. The wide under elbow flounces of her sleeves exposed her pale netted under-sleeves. The long skirt wavering centimetres against the well stood-in ground of the plain grass. A horsehair crinoline made the dress poof out contrasting beautifully with her naturally slim waist line and deep hips under her corset. A bonnet sat comfortably around her head and her h/c locks completing the look spectacularly.

The controller bowed deeply "Welcome miss, I hope you had a calming trip on the way here. I know it's a long walk for you in this unbearable heat" He smiled uncharacteristically at her. 

You stepped towards him and sweetly smiled back, the messenger turned service boy hurriedly tilting the umbrella to accommodate you. He's so funny sometimes. 

"Oh come on now Ray no need for such politeness, I'm only here to inspect the retainers" you chuckled, scouring the open field for a specific worker. You didn't like the word, you found it subjective and cruel to bunch the less fortunate into such groups. However is was what the law labelled them as and what your father had taught you to call them. 

Hands clasped politely together resting on your stomach as you strolled around to the different groups of people dotting the large area. 

"Is there something in particular you're looking for Miss" Raymond questioned rather suspiciously. 

"Not particularly why? Is there something I should be looking at?" The ulterior question clearly lingering for him to answer. 

He gulped and cleared his throat. 

"No, not at all Grand Mistress. Do as you please" he turned his vision across the retainers quickly trying to find the bloodied boy. 

Before he could act on his worries you quietly made your way over to the group with the boy in. He wasn't the one you were looking for, a boy with a scraped gunshot wound on his right arm was your top priority but you couldn't take your eyes off of him. Under all that mud his tanned skin glowed brightly as his full lips pressed together is concentration. Brown hair falling effortlessly over his forehead, parted to the side. It was starting to get a little ragged from not being cut but that was expected. 

At your staring Raymond visible tensed up, you had seen him. Controllers weren't actually allowed to hurt retainers just rough them up at the worst of times. You knew they didn't listen anyway and continues to damage the company 'property'. It was a cruel circle really, you couldn't change it if you tried but you sure as hell weren't going to stop trying just because it was seen as impossible. 

"M-mistre-" You smirked under your bonnet ushering the service boy away and slowly walking over to him, leaving 'Ray' behind. 

With your footfalls nearing, the group of people slowed down their pace, curious as to who it could be. When you stopped next to the tanned boy and lowered yourself a few gasps could be heard nearby, people probably thought of the worst. It wasn't common for ladys of the house to lower themselves why not to a retainers level, it was practically unheard of. 

"Miss y-your dress, it'll get dirty if y-you stop there" the service boy stuttered out, you ignored him.

The male looked up from the gasps and it took a couple seconds before he focused his attention onto you, he flinched a little and bowed his head deeply. You eyed the deep cut on his cheek and the blood that had drained from it into his shirt. It looked fresh. 

You moved your hand from your waist to his face, enraptured by his beauty. More gasps sounded through the quieting atmosphere as more onlookers watched. You cupped his face as he averted his eyes from your face, was it respect or fear. 

"Look at me" you softly spoke careful not to frighten him further, he looked around your age. 

He immediately made eye contact just as you had requested, a tingle sprouting up his spine at your beauty. He'd never seen a upper class woman up close why not a Grand. You were breathtaking, his breathing hitched. 

You scanned his face for another moment before you blinked a couple times and leaned back slightly. You'd gotten lost somewhere along the way.

"Stand up" your voice didn't have a hint of malice at all, this surprisingly soothed his worries. 

As you raised yourself he stood up beside you, clearly more than just a couple of inches taller than you. He instantly kneeled, retainers like him weren't meant to be in a higher position at any time. He looked over at Raymond, however his heart quietened down when Ray looked trapped. His expression unreadable like he's been caught but no one was doing anything about it. 

"Properly, Retainer" He flinched at the harsh sounding name passing your lips but complied either way. However his heart completely skipped a beat at what you did next. 

Taking his hand in your bare one you tugged him over to your service boy, his expression reflecting many others at your actions. 

"I'll be taking him back to the manor, this field can go back an hour early" Raymond thickly swallowed, he had a habit of it around any Grands. 

Going back early was unheard of, if not going back later than they should be the rest of the workers were left shocked as you walked down the dirt pathway, bottom of your pure white dress scuffed with rouge dirt and retainer boy attached by the hand in tow. Making sure to stay one step behind you at all times even going as far as to bend down a little so you wouldn't have to raise your arm holding his hand. Service boy beside you holding your umbrella up keeping the path clear for you. 

You had left Raymond in the dust as he couldn't contain his slack jaw and wide eyes, he could do nothing about it. Other males into the worker group smirked at this. He had no power against someone like you, it was a rare sight indeed. Not only did a Grand royal pay a visit to the very field they were working at but the Controller that was just threatening them had been ignored and instructed himself. It felt good to know he didn't have power over everyone. 

Everyone had guessed you were someone very important the moment Raymond had opened the letter earlier that day, no one had a letter sent to their visiting place of their own land why not if they weren't in some sort of very high power. The urgency in Raymond's tone proved that then he had pushed them to fasten their pace even after their break. Nobody knew exactly who you were though, you were polite to even lowly retainer like them. It was a refreshing taste of freedom that left a pleasant feeling in their chests. 

Onlookers sneakily watched until the three of you had completely disappeared in the opposite direction of the sun setting through the long winding road of fields upon fields of premature crops and working slaves. 

Who knew what would happen to the young man who dared defy a controllers beating to another, surely a higher up wasn't going to do anything about it. Surely not punish the controller. 

You didn't even stop for the recommended break suggested by the service boy, you'd quickly nicknamed as Sky. You thought Silas didn't quite suit his hasten and timid personality, his similar height from you adding to his friendliness.

"Sky I'm quite alright, you should be more worried about your arm." You chuckled at his flustered gaze as he continued to lift the umbrella up over your head. 

"I'm perfectly dandy Miss, it is my job after all, don't make your concern for me" He managed to at least pull a sentence together at least. 

The tanned boy behind the two grunted, his feet stung. From the relentless labour and dusty path his bare feet were still sore. Retainers weren't given the luxury of shoes. 

You suddenly stopped, the boy behind you almost tripping over your dress. Turning to him you looked down at his feet for a couple seconds and then turned back to begin walking again. 

After a couple of minutes of silence you stopped at a bench and unlatched your hand from his and pushed him to sit to rest his feet, he hesitantly relaxed. You could just be doing this to punished him after all he could never be to cautious. He didn't know you at all and now you were taking him somewhere new after he'd stood up again a controller. He felt sick. 

You sat down next to him re-clasping your hands together, Sky looking on in bewilderment. Watching the sunset as it fell into comfortable silence this time. He relaxed into your comforting aura. Sky eventually put the umbrella away after a little convincing from you that he wouldn't lose his job. Unlatching the pin that held the expensive metal frame in place and wrapping it up he released a breath of relief, sitting back into the bench.

After a while of sitting and enjoying the glaze of the sun you looked at a shiny contraption wrapped around your wrist. It moved constantly and was foreign to the socially sheltered male. You looked at his expression and chuckled. 

"It's called a watch, it shows you the time" It did look familiar, he turned to face you.

"I-it looks like the big circle that makes a sound every so often in the dining hall" You smiled. 

"That's called a clock sweetheart, it's a bigger version of this" you tapped your watch. 

You got up off of the bench pulling him with you as Sky got up and brushed off his tailcoat. His feet felt much better after what seems like a long break just to do nothing but walk again. He didn't deserve it, he didn't deserve you, your kindness.

Nearing the manor you heard a gasp as you approached it, the boy had so obviously been shocked at the sheer size of your house. 

Sky knocked on the door as you waited patiently for a maid to open it. After a couple of seconds one did and you stepped through the door first, Sky closing it behind you. The maid bowed and left to attend to other duties. 

"If I do impose Miss, why did we come through the back door" Sky had bravely questioned and the tanned male had stiffened up, that, was the back door. It was so extravagant. 

"It makes sense doesn't it? The retainers containment land is on the back fields, why would be spend so much time just to go through the front door. Besides it'll alert Father" You smiled at his reaction, he knew it was wrong to bring retainers into the mansion, they weren't allowed without permission from the owner, you were close enough so it could be dismissed. 

However the working class male shrunk back he didn't think no matter how many times you would say retainer that he would get used to such a gross word being said by you, a saviour as such.

As you dismissed Sky for the day and led him up the stairs and down a couple of corridors. You still had his dirty hand in your soft one. Pushing past a pristine white door on the back side of the manor, it overlooked the back fields owned here. 

After some quick looking after it made sense to be your room. The white four poster bed with flower patterned sheets and beige smooth walls. A big cupboard was pushed against the right side of the wall with a mahogany dressing table right beside it. Besides that was a connecting door to somewhere else. Your window overlooked the sun setting beautifully as it shaded your whole room. The other side of your room filled with clothes in racks across your wardrobes.

You led him over to the wooden stool of your dressing table and took a box out from underneath it, setting it upon the counter and opening you dug for the content in mind. 

Setting the small bottle and cotton aside you went in search of a rag. He sat there quietly watching you. Returning with a damp rag and the absence of your bonnet you neared him. Deciding to stand instead of sit, you worried the boy, you should be the one sitting.

"Can I touch your face?" he stopped, you, a Grand, had asked permission to touch him.

"O-of course" He blushed at the straight forward question. 

You touched his chin to angle it towards you as you patted the rag over his crimson stained face. It had stung a little bit it got the crusted blood from his face. You decided to wipe the rest of his face down from all the sweat and mud he'd collected from his last washing and discarded the now dirty rag into a wooden basket to be washed later. 

You opened your drawer next to him and took out a wavy looking plastic band. 

"Your hair is so long for a boy" You giggled as you smoothed it behind his ears and into his hair, it kept his hair back to take a look at his cheek properly. 

You opened the mysterious bottle and dabbed the cotton into it with a small metal stick-like object to hold the cotton. He watched the alien products with curiousness. As you raised the cotton to his cut he moved back slightly. 

"Don't worry this will help your cut get better, it may sting a bit though" You looked up at him warily. 

"O-oh okay" He closed the corresponding eye out of habit. He had to admit, it did sting a whole lot but the look of care on your face made up for it, it felt worth it.

"What's your name?" You had question through the comfortable silence. 

"It's Kai" You scrunched your face up at this.

"I meant your real name, not the one they give you when you get sold here" He was surprised at your annoyed tone.

"Are you sure?" He winced at the cotton touching his cut. 

"Yes" You deadpanned.

"It's Kim Jongin" You smiled, the sour expression on your face had disappeared instantly. 

"So your name is Jongin, I guess I should introduce myself as well" He shuffled against the seat finally being able to put your face to a name.

"My name is L/n F/n, but my Officials Grand name would be Alice Ward" His eyes widened, Alice Ward. The Ward family, even he knew who they were. 

"Y-you're-" You nodded.

"Alice isn't your real name?" He put his hand up to his mouth in shock. You chuckled rather loudly.

"No silly, of course I have a cover name, it's for my own safety of the state" You beamed.

"Then w-why are you telling me this" He states suspiciously.

"Because I know you wouldn't tell a soul" You smiled through your words. You were right he wouldn't tell a soul, you had shown the most kindness in the hour or so he'd ever seen in his lifetime from a upper-class woman. He relaxed into the high stool.

"Just how old are you Kai" His name felt so good to be coming from you, he suddenly loved the fake name. 

"I'm nineteen" he whispered, he looked so much more mature for his age.

"Oh really, I would of guessed twenty two" He laughed at that, you looked mature yourself.

"How old are you, i-if I may ask" You stopped for a moment.

"I'm eighteen" You whispered, a sad smile on your face. It disappeared as soon as it came. 

"Oh..I would of guessed twenty at least" you laughed under your breath, it's not like you had much of a childhood anyway.

"You're so pretty for your youth" He whispered more to himself then anything. You decided to end the conversation there and finished treating him.

After a couple of minutes you were almost done. "I think I can give you a plaster, your hair will hide it enough" your soft spoken words barely reaching his ears. 

You dabbed some white cream out of a tube in your hand onto his gash and peeled white paper off of a skin coloured strip. Placing the strip onto his cheek and smoothing it down you looked at it for a couple seconds and then smiled again. 

"All better" you tapped his cheek lightly, laughing when he smiled. He had a handsome smile. His teeth whiter and straighter than you'd expected for a retainer.

The sun had almost set now so there was no chance she could take him back to the camp before tomorrow morning. Jongin would have to stay the night. Even at the thought of it your cheeks heated up. There was no where else but your large bed for him to sleep. He'd have to wash up first. You led him through to your bathroom.

"Take a shower and I'll have some clean clothes for you for when you get out" You turned around to walk out only for Jongin to grab your wrist. He immediately let go after he had realised what he'd done.

"I'm so sorry" He bowed deeply, You stared at him. The rules he was so accustomed to scared you in a way. 

"What it is?" You questioned rather bluntly, holding your wrist close to you.

"I-I-I don't know where this 'shower' is or what it does" you stopped. You had forgotten that not many people own a shower nor working class people like Jongin even had the chance to know about one, why not use one. 

You stepped to the side of him and gestured to the big-nozzled silver infront of you. Turning the warm tap on you laughed at he jumped back slightly. 

"This, is a shower. You wash yourself under it" He stared in awe, he'd never seen anything like it. 

"Don't you just collect a bucket of water and pour it over yourself" He seriously questioned as he continued to gorp at the shower. 

"I guess it really is a rarity for you" You gulped, how insensitive of you, you couldn't take these things for granted, especially not when he was around. 

"Oh, when you take your clothes off go under the water and wash yourself. The soap is on the shelf over there" you pointed to a shelf inside the shower area around shoulder level. 

"You can afford soap!" You winced at how the basic objects you took as necessities were a high end products for him. 

"Y-yes, when you're done turn this handle to the left and then dry yourself with this towel" you pointed to white fluff on the counter. The above light casting a yellow glow to the room. 

"Come through this door when you're finis- oh my god!" You turned around blushing furiously. He'd already started stripping off, dirty shirt on the floor, you would of guessed he was excited to finally get himself clean. 

Jongin paused at your sudden shouting. "This water is warm, h-how" He looked at your back.  
Warm water...he bathed with cold water, this thought upset you. You quickly closed the door behind you and left him to wash up in peace. 

After a silent ten minutes Jongin had come out of the bathroom, the towel wrapped loosely around his hips. In the time he's figured out how to turn off the shower and the couple of minutes he took in there to mostly dry off you'd found some loose clothing from your older brothers old room and put it on your bed. You'd almost quickly changed into your night-gown the floaty material giving your ribs a rest for once. 

Giving him the clothes while turned you picked up his dirty ones and placed them into the wash basket. The red tint never leaving your face. He happily took the soft clothes and changed quickly. You took his towel and sat him down onto your bed. 

Drying his hair you could see him smile the whole time. 

"Do you like it?" He hummed in response, I guess he had gotten some what comfortable with you if he wasn't answering verbally anymore. With his eyes closed he leaned into your touch, you weaved your fingers through his now shiny locks playing with his hair. The exhaustion had caught up to him pretty quickly. 

You moved the covers of your bed back as you blew out the room candles and left your bedside one to burn. Jongin curled into the side of your bed happily under the covers, where it was warm. You snuggled into the other side of the bed, welcoming the comfort your bed brought you as you fell asleep. Not before the warmth beside you had wrapped itself around you, placing a kiss on your forehead.

You woke up with a jerk as you were faced with a tanned chest. Hands wove around your waist and light snoring was heard in your ear. It was hot, temperature hot. These thick covers were not helping you at all. You realised the chest belonged to Kai as you remember helping him yesterday, a blush settled onto your face. Why did he take his top off in the middle of the night? 

As you moved about your legs brushed his bare legs. I gave him trousers to sleep in.. As you pulled the covers up you prayed that he wasn't indecent, to your luck he had his undergarments on. With the movement of you putting the covers back down Jongin stirred slightly and his eyes fluttered open. His face bloomed as he connected what he had done in the night. 

"I'm so sorry, it was really hot. I'm-I'm not used to the warmth" that hit a chord within your chest. 

He was used to the cold. 

"It's okay, whatever makes you comfortable" you untangled yourself from his long limbs and sat up on the bed. 

"I'm going to change now, go put your clothes back on in the bathroom" Your sweet undertone through command made his heart melt. He sat up quickly, ruffling his bed head and collecting his clothes from the cold floor. Padding into the bathroom and turning on the light he closed the door. 

You put a white and lilac frock on today, it was almost identical to the one yesterday except for the tight sleeves being traded from the open loops you wore yesterday. Pulling a thick bristled brush through your hair, containing the mess of h/t layers. 

Jongin came out of the bathroom as you pulled up your thigh high socks, laying your dress over them you turned to him. He looked even better in clean clothes and a happier aura surrounding him. You grabbed the brush you'd put on your dresser and pressed through his straight brown tresses. When you found it satisfactory you put the brush down and took a minute to look at him. A crackle rang out at the corner of your room, you looked up. 

"What was that noise?" Jongin questioned curiously as you hurried your way over to your desk. The metal box crackled again as you turned a dial on the front. A muffled tune filled the silence as you clapped your hands.

"It's something called a radio, it plays sound from musicians in town, my father got it for me as an enga- a present" Your smile faulted. The radio buzzed again and the music stopped crackling and played a smooth tune.

"What's this music called" Jongin stepped closer to you. 

"Oh she's a very famous performer, her name is HyunA and she calls this song Red" the song was indeed ahead of its time.

"It's in korean" Jongin sounded more blunt than he would of liked.

"I unde-, foreign music is in at the moment anyway" you stepped closer to him. Clasping you're hands around his waist, he relaxed into your touch. He knew you knew he was korean, you didn't care.

"You're so kind to me" You struggled to smile.  
He cautiously cupped your face just as you had yesterday and meaningfully smiled back. 

"I should be saying that to you" He chuckled a bit. 

"Thank you" He whispered against your forehead and kissed it, just as it had been the night before. 

You decided it to be long enough into the morning and started on your way out to the retainer camp. You say camp but it was in fact a rather big hall surrounded by a couple small cramped buildings, most of the rooms the retainers used had been dug out underground, the ámense amount of money your father had didn't surprise you when he said it was to save land for crops. 

The only thing that was above ground was the retainers main hall where they spent most of their time with each other when they weren't working. That included eating as the wooden tables and benches that lined the place were used as dining tables. Nothing metal was given to them. The other building was a couple of plain toilets that your father had so 'generously' put in place for them to use. You were only allowed to go once a day if not that.  
All the bathing as such was done In their own personal mud quarters underground with a bucket and stone slab. 

Rounding the long draining pathway up the hassle house seemed to take forever and you held Jongin's hand a bit tighter the closer you got to it. As you reached the door you stopped Jongin from opening it. 

"Make sure to not forget whats been taught to you by your elders, you have seen first hand how the controllers are" you straightened out his top. He nodded and opened the door, letting you in first. 

Things quietened down as you entered the hall meant for retainers, most people there hadn't even seen upper-class before why not Grands. You sent Jongin on his way with one last quick goodbye as you walked around the perimeter to the back right corner of the hall. You knew the head controller's eyes were on you, you weren't expected to be here never the less entering with a mere skivvy. 

Looking at the cook in the back you looked at the countertop and then quickly back up to her, she bowed gratefully as she cleaned the surface. Whatever it took to avoid innocent people getting beat for 'not doing their job correctly' you hurried around the rest of the right wing as you came face to face with the head controller. It was his shift to watch over the retainers it seemed. 

"Mistress Ward, what gives me the occasion" He bowed tightly hands clasped together in front of him. 

"I had business with one of Raymond's Retainers, my earlier search came up empty so I had to entertain myself with another" Of course you were lying, about entertainment not your search.

The whole reason you'd gone to that patch in the first place was in search of a teen similar to Jongin that you'd seen working as a rather nasty looking gunshot scrape on his upper arm. It was lazily tied with a dirty bandage as best he could, it would simply become infected with that. You had been terribly worried, you hadn't seen him once yesterday. 

"I hope your search turns out in your favour young miss" He bowed again and you turned to leave, walking down the middle isle to the wide double door you came in through. 

That was until you head a little 'ooff' and a slight shake of the ground to the right of you, looking down it seemed to be a little boy that had bumped into your dress. The hall was almost silent now, many eyes wandering over you. Most in fear for the little boy. You simply picked him placing him on your hip and dusted off his dirty overalls. 

"You're not hurt, are you" He seemed confused by your words. You took a lucky guess as what he could understand.

"Are you okay?" You spoke to him in Korean.

"I'm perfectly fine Miss, thank you for picking me up" He spoke back in Mandarin. He spoke both languages?

"What's your name young man" He squealed as you tickled his stomach. 

"Mother says my name is Henry but she's always calling me Renlou, I don't get it" He huffed at his childish conclusions. 

"Well Henry, make sure next time you watch where you're going, in this place people won't be as nice, you have to take care of yourself" He nodded immediately.

"Of course Miss" you smiled down at Henry, You loved the childish behaviour, it made you want to be a child all over again, the childish innocents and the pure ignorance that made it so tempting. 

"Call me y/n" He nodded vigorously.

"Auntie y/n" A surprised giggle came from you as you nodded your head. 

"Auntie y/n it is little one" He giggled with you.

A panic-ridden woman probably in her early thirties came bounding over quickly not far behind was a man, they were mostly likely to be the boys parents. As soon as she got close enough to you she dropped to her knees and formally bowed to you. You smiled slightly worried for the conditions of her knees and her partner did the same. Both apologised repetitively for their son. You simply chuckled and handed him over to his mother. 

"My deepest apologises Miss, He's still being taught manners and isn't skilled in English, we will take any punishment in place of him" Her tone worried you.

"I won't take any action towards you, rest. Your child has much personality to him, don't let anyone ever take that away from him" You smiled down at them. After a wink to Henry and few more bows from the couple you started walking away. 

"Mother did you hear her, she spoke our language. Did you hear it! Did you hear her!" You chuckled into your hand as you sauntered over to the door. 

"Don't be silly baby, making things up in this world won't get you anywhere" You gulped at her words. 

She was right, as much as you wanted something if you didn't have it. In the end, it didn't matter.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Make sure to leave any suggestions and thing you’d like to see in the comments :)


	2. Run

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This took a while wowie, I write whatever book I have inspiration on so sorry to everyone that has been waiting on a Lost Boys update for months

The following day felt slow, you had to force yourself out of bed to go clean up. Jongin was really stuck in your head, you'd spent almost all day thinking about him...his full lips with his silky hair that you could just tangle your finge- what were you thinking. 

The shower had turned cold by the time you'd realised you'd been standing under it for over ten minutes. Father would kill you if you stayed in any longer, water was still expensive even for a Grand. Trudging out of your bathroom you didn't feel like wearing such a tight corset, you only had to wear them to appease your family's outings standards anyway. 

Maybe something self-made, you liked making clothing in your spare time. It was at times an expensive hobby but you liked the feeling of your own clothing, sometimes even hand-stitched. You'd have to have found a hobby that would take up most of your time, you'd have gone crazy otherwise.

Maybe you'd make something for Jongin...

However, after y/n had left just yesterday, things had gone down for the boy rather differently.

The buzzing of the hall had returned a couple of moments after the Grand Miss had left. A couple of curious glances were thrown towards Jongin, some even in jealousy. As soon as he shut the door behind the both of you he'd bolted straight to his selected table. He just had to tell them. Tell them that not all the higher ups were at bad as Kris and Minseok had made them out to be. 

As he sat back on the creaky bench as the whole table looked at him. He'd been picked up by a upper-class woman and returned safely the next day, with his wound tended to why not. Everyone could clearly seen the foreign plaster on his face, Kyungsoo had even seen the injury be inflicted the day prior for it not to be anything else.

"Jongin what the hell, Where the fuck have you been!" Tao spoke through clenched teeth, earning him a smack around the back of the head by Kris. 

"Let the guy settle in before you start asking such rude questions Taozi, he's probably been scared enough as it is" Kris hid disdain in his voice, he wasn't falling for your act. 

Jongin licked his lips "Actually it was the opposite" the playful banter around the table had stopped. Kris nodded his head in a silent command to continue.

"S-she took me back to the manor" A couple gasped as Jongin played with his fingers.

"What cruel things did she do to you Kai" Sehun dramatically leaned onto Luhan but the latter quickly shoved him off with a tut.

"Hold on Sehun-ah I'm not finished" Jongin tapped his hand onto the wood, fist clenching and leg twitching. Everyone listened.

"She took me to her room-" 

"Did she make you d-" A slam to the table this time. 

"Let me finish!" Sehun shut his mouth rather quickly. 

"She took me to her room and treated my injury herself, she had her own medicine. It looked kind of expensive though" Now everyone was definitely listening. 

"S-she asked me a couple of questions and answered all of what I asked her. She even let me sit on her stool while she stood." Jongin's voice held happiness in the short memory as he looked at the table.

"What kind of questions did she ask you? What did you answer to her questions?" Minseoks curiosity had gotten the best of him even if he didn't like the thought of Jongin alone with a Upperclass woman.

"She asked for my name, my real name and how old I was" 

"And you actually told her?" Sehun scoffed.

"Of course I did, she'd find out one way or another" Everyone sighed, There was no escaping the harsh reality they were all stuck here, as if they were property. 

"And would you give a little respect Sehun, she's a Grand" They all gulped at this, a grand had payed attention to a retainer, this was unheard of. 

"But she's so young, she looked to be around Kyungsoo's age" Junmyeon interrupted waving his hands around.

"That's what took me by surprise, she isn't. She's the same age as Sehun" He pointed straight at the estranged male. 

They all turned to look for you at this, you were talking to the high controller, Willis. He'd bowed to you and you'd made your move down the main pathway to the doors. They all silently watched the way your hips swayed in your tight waisted dress. The colour suited you perfectly. They however couldn't stop their wincing as a child had crashed head first in your skirt hoop.

There was no hope for those who defied.

The eight all stared at the back of the woman as she picked up the small child and dusted his clothing off. They continued to stare as she seemed to be having a small conversation with the boy and even laughed with him. 

They were too far away to hear their conversation but they couldn't believe what they were seeing, a Grand? Touching a retainer child and even lowering themselves that much to interact in casual conversation with one? So many unusual things were happening today and the boys had to take a couple of seconds to wrap their heads around it. Many others looked shocked as they watched the interaction among themselves. 

As they saw the parents rush through the busy breakfast crowd to collect their son they pitied them as she would surely punish them instead of the boy. What they didn't expect was for the Grand to pass their son back to them and go on with her day. The atmosphere was thick as she left through the main door shortly after. 

"Jongin what was that about her answering your questions" 

You buttoned up the front of your sleek black flared trousers as you grinned in the mirror. Your frilly blouse and slim black heeled-boots complimented each other beautifully as you tied half your hair back with a white ribbon and slid on some velvet black gloves. 

Your goal was to find the injured man and this time you had his name, Oh Sehun. By the arrangement you'd figured he was korean, Maybe he's have another adorably cute accent like Jongin- You caught yourself thinking about him again, he seemed to be harder to get out of your head than you thought. You told yourself time and time again that talking to him was a one time thing but your brain just couldn't let that happen, he was too kind not to talk to. 

You found yourself walking down the soft dirt path much quicker than usual as you thought about the clothing you had mentioned for Jongin earlier. He would look good with something other than a tattered plain t-shirt and some worn shorts, You hoped he kept onto the clothing you gave him yesterday. 

Nearing the entrance you unlatched the wooden door with a weird sounding clunck and a high pitched squeak. Closing the door nimbly behind you and walking down the main row you scanned over the tables and rows of retainers sat down either eating or socialising over breakfast. 

It sure does get busy in here. 

As you made your way down the row you caught the attention of a couple of wandering eyes. They followed you all the way down the path and before you knew it you had also caught the attention of the patrolling controller. 

"Good morning young Miss, what brings you here?" The tall uniform clad guy stood proudly as he spoke with confidence, even if his face was tinted red. 

You sighed. "Good morning Watson, I'm having trouble finding a specific retainer" You continued searching sheepishly.

"Well Miss if I can be of any help, I'll call the unlucky things name out for you" He grinned as you lightly slapped his arm. 

"So funny Darren, shouldn't you be working night shifts" You folded your arms.

"Oh how I wish, then I wouldn't be seeing your ugly mug around" He laughed as you punched his shoulder. 

You turned away from him in a fake sulk "How dare you Darren Watson, I could have you hung for that" His face turned rather serious as it was your turn to laugh and tell him a quick 'I am joking' with a greater tint on his cheeks and a rub to the back of his head as he apologised. 

"Darren, back to my earlier concern." He nodded. "His name is Oh Sehun" Darrens face twisted ever so slightly, he didn't favour the retainer that's for sure. 

"Sure I'll do it now" He walked a part ways down the split way and cleared his throat. 

"Retainer Oh Sehun! You are required in the presences of a grand...Oh Sehun!" Everything was deadly silent, a few pitiful glances thrown at the far back right table next to the entrance door. He must be there. 

After a few more seconds of painful silence a figure stood up from the said table and made his way slowly to Darren. Some of the other retainers around the hall gulped as you began walking towards him as well, the room had suddenly gotten warmer. 

As you stood besides Darren, Sehun had finally finished taking his time to walk up to the both of you. He wasn't kneeling, not even a bow. 

This bothered Darren.

You tried to keep a straight face as Darren warned him, retainers were of no place above the upperclass. Even if you didn't like it, the rules were set in place and that meant any retainers failure to show respect could lead to dire consequences. 

The strike of Darrens crop against the boys skin is what made you widen your eyes, the bright red slash raised upon his skin peaked across his shoulder and onto his neck, his wide necked shirt didn't do a good job of keeping him warm by the looks of it. Sehun lowered his head. Darren struck him again, this time the side of his leg. Your hands tightened as saw him fall to his knees onto the dirty cobble with a low grunt. That was enough, Darrens had his fun and your patience. 

"Watson" He turned towards you, your voice had echoed. The look on your face could only be described a lethal, pure anger written over your features. 

Even if he was a friend of sorts he loved to enforce his position upon everyone else. You could have never have been real friends with someone as close minded as him. Your hand on Darrens shoulder was enough for him to take a couple of steps back as you crouched down to Sehun. 

He sat in front of you with his arms keeping himself up and his legs straight out. Reaching your hand to the side of his face you smoothed down a piece of jet black hair that had stuck up when he fell. He moved away slightly but you paid no mind to it. Getting yourself up again you kept your glare on the door. 

"Get up" Sehun did just that and with no other words exchanged to Darren, you and him made your way out of the hall and along the path to the manor, the heavy door creaking shut behind you. 

"She took Sehun, Jongin what was that all about! What did you do!" Tao panicked voice had crackled through as soon as the door had shut. 

"I-I-I didn't do anything, I didn't even know she'd come back into the hall until we s-saw her" Jongin was furiously waving his hands around. He didn't actually expect to see you again after yesterday.

"She obviously wanted something, she called him by name for fuck sake" Minseok hissed, throwing some cloth onto the table and sitting down on the wooden bench harshly.

"No, I believe she didn't" Jongin didn't look very convinced.

"Pfft, how" Jongdae snickered as the rest of them scoffed.

"I could hear her murmuring about a boy with a wound on his arm the other day. She wanted to help him" The table grew quiet. 

"Why would someone like her help someone like Sehun" Tao scowled. 

All heads turned to Jongin "Because she's not as bad as someone puts her out to be" He smiled and put he elbows on the table, he touched his face feeling the plaster. 

"I think she was looking for him in the first place, she somehow found me before him. Without her I'd be six feet under with more than just a cut on my cheek" The boys could practically hear a pin drop at this point. 

Mouths hung open and Jongin ducked his head down, remembering what happened just yesterday. He'd never felt anything like it. This foreign feeling he almost welcomed inside of him, he didn't know it would have bloomed into something more. 

You stopped in front of Sehun when you'd managed to get to your kitchen in time. It wasn't the kitchen the cooks used, it was the nice homely one your mother used to use and you loved it. 

"Take a seat" you nodded your head over to the high chair next to the kitchen island. 

Sehun hesitantly shuffled himself down onto the seat, faced away from you. He had no clue what you were up to with your nice lady act but he wasn't having it. He heard a scrap of a metal box and a click that shortly followed afterwards. He spun his head round, rather violently. 

You had taken out the medical box from under the sink, it wasn't all that much but you would take what you had. Setting a cotton pad and disinfectant out you suddenly stopped. You could feel his eyes burning holes straight through your head. Looking up carefully you made eye contact, it didn't last long as he quickly turned his gaze away. 

"Can I touch your arm?" You spoke clearly, Sehun whipped his head around once again, mouth open. 

"W-why" He stuttered shifting back in his seat.

You pointed to his arm "For your wound" You smiled. 

"O-oh" He relaxed ever so slightly. 

Placing your hand gently on his bicep you unraveled the dirtied bandages and tossed them into the wooden bin. Grabbing the antiseptic you took a peek at his gash. You gulped. It had looked like the bullet had completely taken a chunk out of his arm, it hadn't been deep enough to stay in there but it looked like it had skimmed it but skimmed it to the point of it almost going through his whole arm. You winced, how is he not in so much pain right now. 

Looking up at him you noticed his jaw clenched and eyes fixed straight ahead, he was in pain. 

Cleaning up the crusted blood around it with a new cloth you carefully made sure not to touch the raw flesh. Dabbing it with a cotton pad and antiseptic is when you see his whole face turn red, he just didn't want to admit it hurt. 

Unfortunately for him this definitely needed stitches and it was going to hurt like hell. Picking up a new needle you threaded the wire through and held the needle with a pair of tweezers. You peered up.

"I know this will hurt a lot but you need to be as quiet as possible for this" He huffed.

"Why should I be quiet" You were slightly surprised, his behaviour compared to Jongin was so much different. He was, testing and more impatient. 

"Do you want your arm to lose circulation, huh?" You glared up at him and he turned away.

Teasing his skin apart your pressed the cotton strapped pad against his skin with your pinkie finger. You were at least a little bit happy that it wouldn't hurt too much after this and heal up nicely.

Piercing the skin with the needle you felt him flinch a little and exhale deeply. Stitching it up was going to take longer than you expected, you were worried with how much time this would take. You might not make it.

After the lasting stitch was made you pulled the skin together tightly and tied the thin blue thread together as neatly as possible, you cut the thread off with a small pair of sheers that had came out of the medical box. Putting them down onto the island table you sighed at your handiwork. It would have to do for now and was better than the poor boy getting an infection. 

Staring at the wound you flinched a bit at the sudden crunch of the connecting door opening with one full swing. Snapping your head to the direction that the noise came from your eyes had widened when you saw one of the family maids stroll in. It was the head maid and she rather scared you. 

The buttons on her plain dress proved worn from wear and the badge she proudly had tied around her arm stating of her position gave her an ego boost. She watched carefully as your gaze hardened onto Sehun. 

"Miss, this is a surprise to see you here with a retainer no less" Her voice was blunt and straight to the point. "What in the heavens are you doing here at this hour" The fake concern had dropped through her façade.

You cleared your throat "One of the controllers had rather dented this retainer, he can't be working at his best if his arm is no good now can he? It would of been completely a waste" You straightened your stature and clasped your hands together. 

"My dear you have many a retainer to do such things, why this one of all things" She eyed Sehun relentlessly as he bowed his head deeply and tried to not make eye contact. 

"This one" You smiled devilishly "Rather caught my eye shall I say" The maid switched her eyes onto you. 

"I see Miss" She ground her teeth together into a less than sweet smile. "You should tell Grand master in that case he would be rather delighted to hear that you finally chose" Her smile twitched.

"I will tell my father when I am completely sure of myself, you shall do no such thing" You glared scornfully. 

She smiled sickeningly bright and curtsied, excusing herself from the rather distasteful situation. After a couple of moments you breathed out rather frightfully and leant onto the nearby counter. Sehun gulped as he processed the rather quaint situation. 

After a minute or two of silence you packed up the medicine box and tugged it up upon the cabinet. Pausing for a second you heard clatter of hooves against the rough pebble surface outside. You rushed to Sehun as he looked at you in alarm. You took his arm in your hand and pulled him across the room, he said nothing as he mindlessly went along with your haste. 

"We must hurry" he tugged on your sleeve as he gripped onto your arm as well, mimicking your actions. This behaviour seemed rather strange for you, even if he'd only seen a glimpse of it. 

Gliding back through the halls you could hear the distance click of the main entrance door opening and shoes clacking upon the marble floors. Pulling Sehun further down the back halls you gripped his uninsured arm rather tightly as the clacking got louder and Louder. 

You weren't going to make it. 

As you rushed around the corner the noise of footsteps stopped and the unmistakable thrip of a cane halting its movement came into view. You shoved Sehun behind you a little bit like he would be hidden with his rather taller stature and looked up. You held your breath as your father face blocked your way. 

"Father, you're home rather earlier this morning" You smiled tightly.

"Yes, there was a problem with one of the passages on the way so my carriage had to turn back" He glared down. 

"Rather unfortunate on a day like this" You knew this wasn't going to end well either way. 

"A lightening stuck tree can fall wherever it pleases I suppose" He scoffed straightening out his jacket. 

"How about we address what such a thing is going in my manor Alice" He stuck his cane into the marble floor, glaring at Sehun. 

"Father, it is anything but the sort of what you may be thinking" You gulped harshly and held up your hands. 

"We shall not go over this again Alice, if you shall be picking is will either be by my standards or a wealthy man. We can't have your going around that pitiful place as you chose, you'll disrupt the authority we bring" 

"Father, that if not what I have been doing, I-"

"Head maid Agatha had a rather different opinion on this matter, not dispose of him before I do it myself" 

"Please father please do not bring Sehun into this, he's-" 

"IT, shall not be a hinderance in my household anymore, this peasant does not deserve any of your respect" He made a move to grab your wrists but ended up with a slapped wrist. 

Your fathers face turned a rather bright red as you looked up to see Sehun wide eyes and raised hand. 

"How dare a lowly retainer of the sorts lay a hand on me. You have a death wish don't you? Huh? Who are you to tell me how I can handle my daughter" He raised his hand against Sehun this time as he made contact. This time with you as you threw yourself into front of the small gap between the two.

The sheer force your father had implemented into the contact had you knocked off of your feet a couple of feet away as your head made contact with the wall beside you. Sehun looked on in fear as his face shifted. 

"Sehun go now" You hurried him along as you held onto your throbbing head, he stayed in place.

"You scum stay right there, the nerve of some dirt these days is deplorable" 

"Sehun I said go, I'll be alright. If you get caught you won't"You took a breathe "Out of the kitchen just like we'd came here" You managed a half lipped smile as you had trouble breathing. The morning sun seemed to have dimmed. 

The last thing you had managed to see was the fluttering hems of Sehuns ripped trousers against the plain stone walls of your hallway.

Sehuns laboured breaths rang through the air in the main building as he latched the wide door closed behind him. Breathing deeply with his hands gripping onto his knees he tried to pace himself as his heart raced in his chest. 

He clung onto the rough stoning beside the rigid wooden door as his thoughts failed to collect themselves. By now people had started to look over.

What happened to her? He just left her there all by herself. She could be hurt. When all she'd done is show kindness to the man he felt almost some sort of regret in the depth of his stomach.

The feeling of dread rushed across Sehuns back as shiver fell down his spine. He sunk to the ground, the feeling of throwing up fresh in his mind. A hand softly grabbed Sehuns arm as a hand rubbed over his back in soothing circles. 

"Let's get you up bud" Minseoks voice shadowed through his ears. His whole body was sweating as he failed to control the heat radiating off of his body. 

"Minseok I think he's going to pass out" Junmyeon voice was laced with concern, the comforting circles stopped.

Minseok pulled Sehun up by his arms and over his shoulder as Junmyeon quickly helped him at Sehuns other side. They both struggled as Sehuns insistent shivering racked his whole body. Careful of his now newly stitched arm Junmyeon made sure to keep his hold low and against his waist. 

She'd patched him up just like Jongin. 

Minseok leaned over his knees as he sat in the woven three legged chair at the side of the straw bed. He and Junmyeon had decided to stay after Sehun had finally fallen asleep after his little panic attack. If you could even call it that. They didn't want to bring him back to their room so they spent a little of their saved up coins to drag Sehun up to one of the nicer rooms in the lodging area. If you could even call it that. 

The rooms here weren't exactly the cleanest and definitely not the comfiest. The basic rooms all people got were cold hard floors in the ground floor and the basement area of the right end of the halls. 

The rooms were exactly what they were told to build. Ground floor rooms were wooden and as good as the few who were set to build it were. The basement floor was the rooms meant for the larger groups of shipments that came in and worked better together, even if they normally end up working in separate groups. 

Basic clay and no heating inhabited the basement floor and it's also were Minseok, Junmyeon and Sehun shared a single room with nine others. A light in the middle of the room and blankets were all that filled the room. Just enough the cover themselves. 

Some could use coins to pay off whoever lives in the ground floor to use a room for the night if they wanted a straw bed and some chairs with a little bit of extra sack blankets. Normally they were reserved for the older retainers and the sick. They thought Sehun was just that right now. 

The other boys had already visited them and gone off to their morning to afternoon shifts just hours before as they had witnessed Sehun shutdown a couple of meters away on their table. Minseok and Junmyeon took care of the rest. 

Sehun twitched in his sleep as he rolled over and stretched a little. Taking a couple of deeps breathes he turned to look at the two. 

"It was her she, she-" He looked down.

"I swear to god Sehun if she made you- This happen to you then she's just as fucked up as the rest of them" Minseoks eyebrows furrowed as his aggressively waved his hands around. 

"No, no it's not like that" He took a couple seconds to gather his scattered thoughts as Junmyeon leant back in his seat, quietly observing. 

"She brought be back to her house, the thing was just as big as we imagined Hyung" His voice broke as he wiped the fresh sweat off of his forehead. 

"She took care of me, even switched up my wound. This lady came into the room we were in and i don't think she liked me all that much" He swallowed thickly before continuing.

"Then someone came back, it was the Grand him-himself. She tried to rush me out of the house because of it but we got caught. He started shouting at her and then at me and then he- he tried to grab her so I pushed him away a little bit" Sehun cringed at his actions to such a high position. That man has his life in his hands. 

"He went to hit me and then she just moved in front of me. The man didn't even flinch. He hit his own daughter. After that all I remember was running straight back here as she told me to" Junmyeons concentrated face stared into Sehuns eyes as his combed through his damp hair. 

"So you're telling me that little girl took a hit from her old man for the likes of you" Minseok scoffed and crossed his arms. 

"If she forcing you to say this, what has gotten into you Sehun. Didn't you hate the Grands?" Minseok pressed his tongue against the inside of his cheek. 

"No Hyung, she just changed my view a little bit" He looked down at the scratchy blanket that was draped over him, picking at it. 

Silence drew across the room as a couple of moments before Junmyeon spoke up as he tipped himself back on his chair. 

"She's finally standing up to him" Junmyeons stare as the fireplace on the far wall never faltered. 

"Junmyeon what the hell are you talking about?" Minseok turned around confused, Junmyeon scoffed lightly. 

"Nothing, just reminiscing" He tipped forward to stand up from the chair. 

"Sehuns telling the truth. I'll tell the others what happened and make sure no one else that saw it gets that much of a bad idea. The girl has enough trouble coming through here more than once a month as it is why not twice in a matter of days." Junmyeon walked up to the door and gripped the chipped wooden handle.

"Things are going to start changing around here" With this parting sentence he left the two rather dazed. 

The next morning the boys had all been informed of Sehuns well being and what Alice had done. Some took it with a grain of salt and others took it as a good sign. A certain someone smiled as Junmyeon explained her kind acts. 

However it's mark the third day of her appearances to the rather bland warehouse of retainers. It was almost ten o'clock and she was no where to be seen, it had been almost a whole day since she'd come to collect an injured Sehun.

"Well, colour me impressed this girl is really making an impression to you guys" Tao sat down rather crudely with his tray of food. 

"Don't come running to me when she sells you off to the next highest bidder" He shoved a piece of bread into his mouth, however he ended up choking on it when Luhan smacked the back of his head. 

"Why would anyone go to you for help" Luhan closed his eyes in frustration as Jongdae laughed through his water. 

"She's not like that guys, I'm telling you" Jongin had completely abandoned his food as he fiddled with his chopsticks looking bored as the entrance. 

"Okay lover boy, calm down now" Yixing laughed out. 

"No need to get ahead of yourself. She could just of been doing that to see how we work" He raised his eyebrows.

"I don't think so-" 

"Well then what do you think" Baekhyun whined as he joined the crowded table. 

"She gave me clothes, not just any clothes but she made them herself. They're sleep wear of the sort but I guess it's close enough to what we wear regularly" He fiddled with the strings on his shirt now as a smile stretched onto his face. 

"She let me use her shower-" Jongdae really did choke on his drink this time.

"She what" The boys had finally stopped their other conversations to listen in to Jongin. 

"She had this machine in a separate room with a watercloset and a sink. It was that fancy machine that sprays water over you while you clean yourself. You think she's just let anybody use hot water" He looked around at their shocked face.

"What, did I say something wrong?" He straightened up. 

"You used hot water? Do you have any idea how expensive that is to own one of those why not run it Jongin" Jongdaes mouth has opened in shock as he stuttered out his words. 

"There-there was soap as well" Jongin pointed out. 

"She told me to use it there was nothing else I could really do. Afterwards she even dried my hair for me and let me sleep in her bed" The atmosphere seemed to tense.

"With her?!" Jongdaes voice had gotten a couple of octaves higher. 

"I went to sleep on the floor but she insisted. I felt like she pitied me though" Jongins mood dampened. 

"You slept with h-" Jongdaes mouth was covered by an annoyed Kyungsoo. 

"Keep your voice down" He let go shortly after. 

"When I got up though she had music playing" Jongins smile returned to his face as he left a couple of things out of his description, the boys didn't need to know everything. 

"It was playing out of one of those radios like in the controllers shack, it was beautiful" He giggled ever so slightly. 

"Why did you neglect to tell us this the first time around?" Baekhyun food slightly spilled out of his mouth as he struggled to speak. 

"I didn't think it was all that important" Jongin shrugged. 

"No, this changes a couple of things" Junmyeon finally added to the conversation. 

"Like what?" Chanyeol questioned confused.

"It's not important" Junmyeon finished the last of his rice and took off to put his tray back.

"What's up with that guy being all cryptic these last couple of days. Huh? Also, where's Sehun?" A couple of them looked around for the youngest. 

"He's still resting on the ground housing. Even though he's alright now his wound still needs a bit of time to heal before his arm can be put back to full use again." Minseok replied curtly scooping up the peas on his plate.

"So Alice, what are you up to now" Kris pondered as he looked up to the clock.

"How did you know her name hyung" Jongin gulped down the lump in his throat. 

"She's a grand is she not, she's the only lady of this house. So that makes her Alice, am I wrong?" He raised his eyebrows, something seems off.

"Why don't we wait until Sehuns rested enough to tell us himself what exactly happened yesterday. Junmyeon got the basic points down and all but by the way Sehun tensed up I don't think it was just that" Minseok sighed loudly. 

"They're both hiding something" Luhan mused. 

"What makes you say that Luhan" Jongin scoffed back immediately, laying his hand down in his arms.

"Well Kai, Sehun isn't one to take rest so easily. Not even a couple of days ago he was skeptic of her himself. Something must of changed" Luhan rolled his eyes as Jongin banged his head against the table. 

"How many times have I told you to not call me that" Jongin hid his frown against the table.

"I wouldn't have called you that if you weren't being such an idio-" 

"Stop it the both of you. You know this will go nowhere" Kris made sure to put an authorities tone to his voice. Sometimes things could get a little bit too heated.

"There's absolutely nothing else we can do here at this point in time. All you guys need to do is stay out of trouble and not draw attention to yourselves. Kyungsoo told us what happened on the field Jongin. If Alice hadn't of been there you'd have been six foot deep in the pit by now" There was no doubt about that. 

Kris sighed heavily. "I know you're still hesitant with things that go on around here but you've been here for almost two years now. You have to learn to know when to sit down and shut up" There was nothing else the other could do but sit and observe. 

People couldn't protect anyone is this cruel game and if you even tried you be killed before sundown. This was the way it worked in the business of money and power. The weak got weaker and the strong stayed out of the way. It's just that little bit more complicated than survival of the fittest. It was more of a stay out of the controllers way and don't make mistakes. 

No mercy was the rule here and higher ups loved to enforce it to get away with their sadistic ways. 

Jongin knew that. Of course he knew that. Some of the older boys had given up in that sense. This was their life now but some even wondered if it was worth that much to keep on living.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I lost all my inspiration to write in April and only just recently have been doing late night writing sessions because I can’t sleep. I thought since the lockdown was here It’d give me more time to write but all it’s done is given me time to procrastinate and play games


End file.
